Advent
by thelightningstrike
Summary: Merry Christmas! 25 drabbles in 25 days inspired by 25 prompts with several characters including Blair, Chuck, Nate, Serena, Dan, Jenny, Vanessa, Alison, Rufus, Lily and Erik. 10/25. Stocking- Blair opens a gift early and wishes she hadn't.
1. Reindeer

**A/N:** Totally uninspired with HP at the moment so thought I'd try a new fandom. You can probably guess from the title what the premise is- it's a drabble a day until Christmas and there will probably be a longer, multi-part thing on Christmas day. I promise I'll update some HP stuff soon, feedback is always appreciated! Happy 1st December!

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**ADVENT**

_1. reindeer_

A plush cuddly reindeer with russet brown fur and twinkling, long-lashed blue eyes catches Jenny's eye from a shop window and she squeals with delight, letting go of her mother's hand to run and press her hands against the glass. She is six and clamours for anything with fur, but this, at eighty dollars, is one gift that Alison and Rufus just can't afford to get her.

"Me want wayndeer," she says and pouts in the way she usually adopts whenever she wants to get anything. Dan sticks his tongue out her because he knows for sure that she won't get it (because, even at nine, he knows that $80 is _Too Much, Sorry_) and she kicks him, hard, repeating her demand so that Alison eventually has to listen to her.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Alison whispers, picking Jenny up and holding her tight, jiggling her up and down on her hip, "but that's not what Santa's going to give you this year. Santa needs that reindeer to help deliver your present, honey. You don't want to take the reindeer away from Santa, do you, Jenny?"

Jenny wrinkles her nose at this and Rufus laughs from behind, where he is holding Dan's hand and carrying bags from the shopping they _can_ afford to buy. She wants the reindeer so, so badly, almost more than she, at six years old, has wanted anything- but then suddenly a pretty, sparkling snow globe winks at her from the palm of a street seller and she wants that instead, more than _anything_.

At just two dollars, Alison is more than happy to oblige.


	2. Feast

**A/N: **Thanks for your reviews of the last chapter, I'm glad you enjoyed it. This one is about Blair and Chuck, when they are four years old and manage to skip a Bass event. There will be another part to this one.

**ADVENT**

_2. feast_

_(part i)_

Every last detail has been perfected and the banquet downstairs is all ready to be brought out to the lavishly decorated table. Bart walks in, talking loudly on his mobile and then frowns at something. "I'll call you back," he says regretfully and snaps his phone shut. He walks to the table and flicks imaginary dust from one of the napkins with his hand, moving it slightly so that it is more in line with the knife. "Charles?" he calls into the wide room.

There is no answer from the little boy sat under the table, and none from the little girl either, and Bart doesn't bother to check there- he doesn't know that Chuck hides from him- so Bart walks quickly from the room to check for his son elsewhere. His phone rings- three, sharp bleeps- on his way out.

"Bart's looking for you," the brown eyed girl, Blair, says with a giggle- all strict codes about being a proper little girl had gone out of the window when Chuck had pulled her under the table.

"I know," Chuck whispers, but he isn't giggling- his hazel eyes are wide and serious. "He won't check here, will he?"

"No," Blair says, sensing his need to be reassured. "Definitely not. Only we're clever enough to think of hiding here."

Chuck's face splits into a wide grin and Blair smiles back at him. "More tea?" she asks, offering a tiny china tea pot adorned with little bears out to him. She'd recieved it earlier in the day as an early Christmas present from her Daddy, and it is already her favourite present.

Chuck offers his tiny cup and saucer. "Yes, please, Mrs Bass."

"Mrs Bass? Yuck, Chuck!" Chuck explodes with giggles at the rhyme and Blair continues to reprimand him even though she herself is grinning. "Don't you dare think of me as your wife, young man," she says, using her best Lady voice. "_I'm_ going to be Mrs Archibald."

Chuck stops laughing abruptly, but Blair doesn't notice. "Today though, seeing as this is _your _feast, I'll be Mrs Bass."

Chuck smiles again. "Okay," he says, and grabs her hand, yanking her from out of the table. "Come and get me, Mrs Bass!" he yells and runs out of the room laughing. Blair shakes her head and mutters to herself, "just what shall I do with him?" before laughing too and running after him.

This year, Chuck and Blair skip the Bass' Annual Christmas Feast to run around the hotel playing hide and seek. Ten years on, they find time to skip it again.


	3. Tinsel

**A/N: **Thanks _so _much for all the feedback about last chapter, it really made my day. This one is for the Nate/Serena fans, like me xD, and Serena and Nate are about 13 in this. Hope you like it!

**ADVENT**

_tinsel_

"Nate!" He'd recognise that voice anywhere, and a smile lights his face as he turns round to see her. Serena smiles at him sweetly as she catches up with him and he waits for her to start talking again. "How are you?" she asks as she falls into step with him.

"Fine, fine," he says, and before he can ask her the same she stops and cocks her head on one side in the coy fashion he loves and can't help but grin at even if she is just using it to get him to do something for her. "What is it?" he asks.

"Nothing," she says instantly, flipping her long blonde hair and then sweeping it behind one ear. She's wearing a warm-looking jacket with a fur-lined hood and a festive red scarf over her school uniform- nothing to Blair's taste, of course, but Nate thinks she looks lovely, especially as her cheeks are flushed with the cold.

"Serena..." Nate says, still grinning. Whatever it is she wants, he'll only be too pleased to help. He'd do anything for her.

"Do you mind if I come back to your house for a bit tonight? Well- to stay over?" She says it guiltily and watches him nervously for an answer.

He feels like he's glowing. "Sure!" he says almost instantly. "I'm on my way there now, so if you want to just nip home and get changed, or-"

She bites her lip. "Would it be okay if I just came now?" she asks and links her hands together, picking at her nail polish. "I mean, I understand if- well, it's just- my mom, she's out of town again and..."

Nate tentatively touches her shoulder. "Where's Eric?"

"I sent him to his friends- a bit of normalcy. I thought that was best," she says, but she doesn't sound sure. She smiles at him sadly and looks at her nails again.

"Of course you can come now," he says. He offers his arm to her and she grins before linking it. They set off and Serena starts babbling about something that Blair did the other day when he realises- Blair. His girlfriend is not going to be happy about this. "Where's Blair?" he asks, as nonchanlantly as he can.

"She's gone shopping for our Christmas presents, or so she said earlier. Don't worry," she pauses and smiles. "She know's I'm coming here."

Nate almost breathes a sigh of relief, and then remembers that they're talking about his girlfriend who he loves (_doesn't he_?) so he just grins charmingly at her and says "So, just what _shall_ we do tonight?"

Serena beams and laughs, the tinkling sound putting the hair on his neck on edge and stilling his heart. "I think I can think of something..."

-

Later, after they have raided Bloomingdales for as much tinsel as they could buy and they have eaten more than their fill of cold turkey sandwiches, cheesy crisps and cheap chocolate, and when Serena has long fallen asleep, the tinsel they bought woven into her hair and looped floppily around her neck, Nate slides closer to her on the couch and takes her hand delicately, so as not to wake her. "You know, the more time I spend with you..." he starts to whisper while tracing her name and his onto the back of her hand. His phone vibrates suddenly on the coffee table before them, BLAIR flashing possessively on the screen.

Nate sighs and flops back into the sea of gold, silver, red, green, purple and blue tinsel Serena had simply _had_ to have (and decorate his entire room _and_ him with), closing his eyes and massaging his temples with his thumb and forefinger. His phone eventually stops buzzing (after about ten minutes, though- he knows full well how relentless Blair is), but Serena's hand never leaves his- and when he wakes up the next morning, her hand is still there.


	4. Tree

**A/N: **Sorry this is late, it's still the 4th for 51 minutes over here in the UK, though. Thanks for the reviews last time. This chapter is about Rufus and Lily when they're maybe about 18/19? Basically, Dan isn't the first Humphrey to give a Van der Woodsen a Christmas tree.

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**ADVENT**

_tree_

Lily meets Rufus in his dressing room almost the second he gets off stage, beaming and clutching her camera excitedly. "I got the money shot," she says as she waves the camera at him and he grins, taking his guitar off by the strap and laying it delicately on a chair.

"You did, did you?" Rufus asks, his arms encircling her waist. "Then I can't wait to see it, Lil'. Enjoy the concert?" He's shattered from the concert, and his face aches from singing, but he can't help but smile every time he sees her.

"Oh yeah," Lily says and laughs. "You were pretty good up there, Rufus."

"Just pretty good?" He teases, twisting a strand of her golden hair through his fingers.

She shrugs and hides a smile. "Just pretty good."

Rufus laughs and leans in to kiss her, and she loops her arms round his neck, camera enclosed tightly in one hand and her other twisting into his dark hair.

"Merry Christmas, Lily," he whispers against her lips.

"Merry Christmas, Rufus," she says and tightens her hold on him.

"Oh, wait," he says, and pulls away. "I forgot to give you your gift."

"My gift?" she asks, surprised. "I thought we said no gifts- that, and I quote, 'being with each other is all we can afford and all we need this year.'" She eyes Rufus cautiously as he releases her and goes to look in his bag.

He laughs. "Yeah, but I wanted to get you _something_, Lil'. It would have been totally heartless of me not to get you _anything_."

"But I didn't get you anything! Now I'm heartless!" she says indignantly, feeling horribly guilty.

"Lily," he says, momentarily looking up from his bag to meet her eyes, "I'm the luckiest guy in New York to have you- so I need to compensate by buying you lots of presents."

"Just in New York? Not America, or even the world?" she teases as he makes his way back over to her, shabbily wrapped box in hand.

"The Universe, then. Just open the gift, Lily."

Lily tips her head on one side and looks up at Rufus, embarrassesd and awkward as she fiddles with the shiny red wrapping paper. "Shouldn't I wait until Christmas? I haven't even got a tree to put it under," she laughs, a hint of sadness in her voice because at home a Christmas tree was something they always had.

Rufus grins now, smugly. "Open it, Lil'."

"Okay, okay," she says. "Don't be so pushy," she adds jokingly as she tears off the wrapping paper. Underneath is a plain cardboard box which she grins at because it means it won't be anything expensive and then inside that, under layers and layers of shredded (and probably reused) tissue paper, is just a polaroid photograph of a christmas tree. She frowns at it for a second, recognising something from it that she can't place, but then looks up at Rufus in defeat. "You got me a photo of a tree?" she says, trying to sound enthusiastic but failing fantastically after recieving Tiffany's diamonds, Chanel handbags and Versace scarves from previous boyfriends. Still, it's different, she supposes.

"Look again," Rufus says and she stares down at it, suddenly realising what it was she recognised- the room that the tree's in is the living room of her apartment. "I snuck it in this morning," he says by way of explanation, grinning at her goofily.

Lily looks up at him, biting her lip to stop any tears coming out. "Thank you," she whispers.

"Merry Christmas, Lily," Rufus says, wrapping his arms round her waist again.

Lily looks down at the fully decorated tree in the photo in her hand, and the scrawled "I love you, Merry Christmas" on the bottom of it, and then back at her boyfriend, a smile lighting her face. "Merry Christmas, Rufus."


	5. Stars

**A/N: **Another Blair and Chuck incident, set when they're thirteen during a Christmas dance. Hope you like!

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**ADVENT**

_stars_

"Do you believe that stars can grant wishes?" Chuck offers, for want of something better to say as they sit on the cold iron bench, staring up at the sky. He'd followed Blair out of the Christmas dance- she'd left after Nate had asked Serena to dance instead of her. It was a jumpy, loud song that Blair wasn't keen of and Nate knew it- but it still hurt her all the same to see them looking so happy together.

"That's the sort of bullshit that Serena believes in, Chuck," Blair says bitterly, the swear word sounding odd in her formal voice. "She's probably telling Nate all about it right now; they're probably each wishing that the stupid song will last forever."

Chuck sighs. "Perhaps. But for tonight, then, wouldn't it be great if all the stars in the sky only worked for us?" He's trying to be romantic. As usual, Blair is the only one it doesn't work on.

"As in they don't work for Serena?" Only Blair could rebuff such obvious romance so easily.

"Why not," Chuck says heavily, but he's not giving up. "So, what would you wish for?"

Blair shrugs, playing with the hem of her glittering skirt that reaches just above her knees, so unlike Serena's which is more of a belt than a skirt. "Maybe that Serena didn't exist?" she mumbles, and then regrets it instantly. "This is stupid, Chuck."

"No it isn't," Chuck says, and catches her hand, guiding it to point at the brightest star in the sky. "Come on, Waldorf. Make a wish."

She rolls her eyes expressively but then closes them, clearly thinking, before she mutters in a low voice: "I wish I was more like Serena and that Nate loved me as much as he should."

Chuck pretends not to hear her, even though her wish makes his heart ache painfully. "You done?"

Blair opens her eyes and sighs. "I'm all wished out. May as well go back inside- there might be something I can dance with Nate to now." She stands and looks down at Chuck, her face softening ever so slightly. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better, Chuck." She leans down and kisses him on the cheek before moving quickly back inside.

Chuck sighs and raises a hand to touch his tingling cheek before looking back up at the stars which seem to be mocking him: _she didn't wish for you_. He frowns at them and then whispers his own wish- because he has to tell somebody, even if it is the mocking stars, before his aching heart explodes with longing. "I wish that she'd realise how much better than Serena she is." He lowers his voice even further still for the second part-

"I wish I could tell her that I love her."


	6. Holiday Season

**A/N: **Aaargh, I'm so, so sorry I couldn't post this yesterday, I was really busy! You will however receive two chapters today to catch up, so no worries about not getting what you're due :D This chapter's not as romance orientated as the others are because I'm trying to show Blair's dependency on the two main men in her life and how she manages and balances this. Hope you like it, and special thanks for everyone who reviewed last chapter, they were so lovely!

**ADVENT**

_holiday season_

"Where's my Blair bear?" The voice only has to ring through the hallways for about twenty seconds before Blair skips down the stairs and into her father's waiting arms, squealing when he tickles her under the chin despite the fact that she's just been taking part in a heavy make out session with Nate upstairs.

"What's up, Daddy?" she asks, smiling so brightly it almost hurts, but she wants to be perfect for him. His beautiful baby Blair.

"I was just wondering if it's time to send young Mr Archibald home now," he says, and at Blair's instant frown, he continues, "because surely you know that when the holiday season starts it's mostly family time, sweetheart." He taps her nose, his eyes twinkling. "And between you and me, there's pie in the kitchen."

Blair smiles up at him at the thought of them all spending time together as a family, just the way, the only way, she likes it. "Of course, Daddy," she says. "I'll just go and get him."

Upstairs, Nate is texting Chuck when Blair flounces in and drags him to his feet and then starts to hunt around the room from his shoes. "You're leaving," she says to him by way of explanation.

"What- why? What did I do?" he asks, confused, as she hands him one of his leather shoes.

She walks up to him with the other shoe and places a small hand in the centre of his chest. "Daddy says Christmas time is family time. Sorry, Nate," she says, and shrugs, not sounding sorry at all. Then she's off again, to the mirror to pin her her back into place and wipe away any traces of smudged lipgloss as Nate puts his shoes back on. "We'll meet tomorrow for coffee. I'll text you." She blows a kiss at him through the mirror and then waits for him to leave the room before snatching up her phone and furiously texting.

Nate gets the text on the second stair before the bottom. _I love you. B. _He smiles slowly and shakes his head before walking out of the hall and into the lift, texting as he goes.

_Same. _Blair smiles when she reads it and then closes her phone, dropping it on her bed before running back down the stairs and into the kitchen where her Daddy is waiting.

"All done?" he asks, a grin on his face as he reaches for her to sit on his lap.

"All done," she beams, resting against him as he starts to tell her some wonderful Christmas story that she's heard a thousand times. She grins to herself secretly, thinking of the text she's just recieved and of her Daddy's warm voice speaking only to her, knowing just how well she keeps the only two men in her life perfectly balanced. It's a skill that she's taught herself well.


	7. Candy Canes

**A/N: **Right, I'm back on track now. This is a snapshot of Nate and Serena when they're maybe in their early twenties? I'm not sure- but about that age, anyway. Kate isn't a real character, I made her up for the purpose of this snippet. I hope you like it!

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**ADVENT**

_candy canes_

Nate spots Serena coming out of her mother's house, looking flustered as usual because knowing Lily there'll be a huge crisis going on right now. She looks folorn, like she's thinking about something really sad, and doesn't notice him until he touches her arm consolingly.

"Nate!" she says, surprised to see him. "What are you doing here- I thought you were going to barbados with..."

"Kate," he says, and grins awkwardly, like he always does when he's talking about any girlfriend of his in front of Serena- "but I- well," he says, wishing now he hadn't come, "we broke up."

"Oh!" Serena says, shocked, and grips his arm. "Are you okay? How- what- why? You liked her!"

"I'm fine," he says, and laughs. "I broke up with _her_, actually."

"Why?" she asks, the dreaded question he's been avoiding.

"You," he blurts, simply and far too quickly, and for a moment they stand stock still, either deciding to act upon it or pretend he hasn't said it. Serena cringes and laughs her tinkling laugh, breaking eye contact with him to stare down the street. "I mean- well, I wanted to," he says, going for the quick cover up.

"Oh," she says, and nods, looking at him again as she wraps her coat more securely around herself. There's an awkward silence and then she speaks again. "So are you doing anything over Christmas?"

"I- no, actually," he admits, cheeks tinging pink. His plan to sweep Serena off her feet with his undying love for her isn't going very well at all. In fact, it's going terribly.

"Well," she begins, "my mom and Rufus, they're all about inviting as many people as possible to stay over so if you wanted... I mean, you don't _have _to, or anything, Blair and Chuck are coming- it's just it would be..."

"Great," he says, and grins, "really great."

"You don't have to," she insists, placing a hand on his arm. "Don't think I'm just using you so I'm not lonely-"

"I don't," he says, still grinning. "I'd love to. Really." And he would.

"Are you sure? I mean, we have cocoa and candy canes as an extra incentive, and, well, my company I guess, but that might be a downside-" Serena is cut off abruptly by Nate touching his lips to hers gently, and all of a sudden they're kissing, properly kissing, like they haven't done in years.

When they pull away, grinning like fools at each other and breathing shallowly, excitedly, Nate takes both her hands in his and touches his forehead to hers. "Cocoa and candy canes it is then," he grins, and when they kiss again, he can taste them already.


	8. Candles

**A/N: **A Lily and Erik moment, with a bit of Bart/Lily/Rufus and Erik/Asher thrown in. This is the night that Erik decides to take action on his feelings for Asher, and who knew that Lily would be the one to start it all off? Hope you like it.

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**ADVENT**

_candles_

"Darling," Lily says as Erik shuffles into the living room. "What are you doing up?" Lily is sat on one of the designer, minimalist couches in the centre of the room, sipping red wine and listening to classical music while looking at the Christmas tree Dan bought Serena and thinking, quite ashamedly, of Rufus.

"I want to know something," he says as she moves up on the couch so that he can sit down.

"Oh?"

"Serena- earlier- said that she didn't want you to marry Bart."

Lily sighs and shifts on the sofa to reach down to the floor to set her wine down. "Serena would- you have to understand-"

"It's not about that," Erik says quickly. "It's not about Bart, or Serena, or even you. It's about... me."

Lily's eyebrows raise and she can't help feeling guilty for presuming, yet again, that Erik wants to talk about her or Serena. "Sorry, Erik. Go on."

Erik scratches his forehead, contemplating. He looks so young in the checked pyjamas she gave him only yesterday. "You love Bart, right?"

Lily laughs. "I thought this wasn't about me, Erik."

"But you do though, right?"

Lily almost panics. Is he insinuating that she loves someone else? Her eyes flick to the tree and remembers that it isn't from Rufus, but Dan. "I do. I love him very much," she says, and it's almost like she's trying to persuade herself that, too.

Erik leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees so that she can only see his profile. He starts to play with the flame of a dying candle, his fingers dancing around it yet never getting burned. She should reprimand him but it's never stopped him before, so she saves her breath.

"Sweetheart?" Lily says, prompting him to speak.

"So I can be with whoever I want, as long as I love them," Erik says, still not looking at her; still playing with the candle like it's the only thing he can see.

Lily moves to sit next to him and put her arm around his shoulders. "Are you in love, Erik?"

"I might be," he says slowly, hesitantly. He meets her eyes slowly and she bites her lip to stop herself from crying at how much the pain in his eyes reminds her of what she felt, what she still feels, whenever she thinks of Rufus.

Instead she smiles, pressing her lips together tightly, and rubs his arm comfortingly. "The most important thing is to be with who you love, Erik, and whoever that is, as long as you love them, I don't mind at all. Without love it's very easy to fall apart." He looks at her, a long, searching look, and she looks away, breaking eye contact to stop him seeing that she herself isn't with the only person who can keep her together. "Time for bed now, darling," she says, and leans forward to kiss his pale cheek. "I love you."

Erik gets up and pads quietly to his bedroom door, turning at the last minute to smile softly at her. "Thanks, Mom. You really helped."

"It's what I'm here for," she smiles. Lily remains staring at the long after he's closed it and she's stopped hearing any signs of him being awake. It's ironic to Lily that the only plus side of her not ending up with Rufus is Serena and Erik- and that she now knows that they're the most important things in her life. Even more important than Rufus- and that's why she has to marry Bart. She wishes it could be different- but knows there's no other way. She's just pleased to finally be able to say that she'd choose her children over anyone.

Meanwhile, Erik rolls onto one side to grab his phone from the bedside table. He sends a text to someone he'd never dared to, and the twenty seconds between sending it and the reply are the longest of his life. The name of the replier more than makes up for it though, no matter what the reply will say. _Asher._

The reply turns out to be perfect, anyway.


	9. Red

**A/N: **Argh! My internet went down yesterday just as I was about to post this. Sorry it's a bit late, I promise I'll catch up. This chapter isn't as Christmassy as the others, and it's more of a character study. Sorry for that, but once I started I couldn't stop. Hope you like it!

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**ADVENT**

_red_

Something Chuck notices about the girls in his life is the colour of their lips. Serena's are usually natural, perhaps a slick of lipgloss that she doesn't need because she's naturally beautiful anyway. One year, when they're 14, he gives her a set of beautiful lipsticks for Christmas that he has a maid pick out, most of them red. He wanted to give them Blair- he so wants to see her in red lipstick- but they weren't on her list. He never sees Serena in the red, but she does tell him just how much she loves the pearly peach one. He buys her a set of fifteen of the pearly peaches next Christmas and the sticky, pearly peach mark on his cheek is one of his favourite gifts of the day.

Vanessa's are natural too, but not peach. They're a soft shade of brown, sometimes orangey, sometimes hazel. He always expected kissing them to taste like chocolate, even though he never particularly wanted to kiss her, but when he does (and strangely, wants to), they don't taste of chocolate at all. They're somehow bitter and bland at the same time. He doesn't mind kissing her, but her lips taste disgusting. It's probably because he's tasted Blair's- and nothing, no taste in the whole world- not even chocolate eclairs- compares to that.

Jenny does wear red lipstick, sometimes, but her startling red lips look strange in her pale face. Strange, and not at all welcoming. Even though he has kissed her, or rather, forced himself upon her, he isn't in a hurry to do it again. One year, at a Christmas party Blair insists on throwing for all their family and friends, which begrudgingly includes Dan and Jenny seeing as they're Serena's half brother and sister, he throws her a pink lipgloss of Blair's that she won't miss (because she has twenty already and if she notices he'll buy her a hundred new ones). It looks nice, makes her seem softer. He isn't surprised when he catches her kissing a distant relation of Blair's that night.

Blair's lips are the favourite of all that he's kissed. They are soft and supple and change colour daily depending on what she's wearing. Sometimes she wears red, sometimes she wears pink, sometimes there's a hint of purple on those bow-shaped lips. He gladly kisses all traces of them away, any day of the week, but the colour that disappears most quickly is always red. One of the presents she expects from him every year at Christmas is a new Chanel red lipstick; one of the presents he expects from her every year at Christmas is a bright red lipstick kiss mark- he isn't particular about where it is. There's something about girls with red lips that does something for Chuck. Or rather, slightly more truthfully, there's something about _Blair _with red lips that does something for Chuck.


	10. Stocking

**A/N: **I'm trying to get on track with these but it's pretty difficult, annoyingly, so I'm going to have to promise that instead of finishing by Christmas I'll finish by New Year's Eve. I hope that deadline is more achievable for me, haha! So anyways, this is just a quick snapshot of Blair on Christmas Eve when she's about 13, with hints at Blair/Nate, and a one-sided Chuck/Blair. It also foreshadows a future event that happens in the show, can you guess what it is?

* * *

**ADVENT**

_stocking_

It's only six on Christmas Eve and Blair has already been staring at the three large stockings, all for her and hung traditionally as she requested over the fire, for exactly one hour and 13 minutes. Her main Christmas presents from Mom and Daddy don't appear until Christmas morning under the tree, because they are of course delivered by Santa (even if she's only pretending to believe in him now), but those from Serena, Chuck and Nate are placed ceremoniously in the stockings the second she receives them. The stockings are otherwise filled with gifts from forgotten aunts and uncles, from other school friends and from her mother's work colleagues.

Blair's painted her nails in gold, straightened and then curled her hair and tried on two outfits to wile away the boredom but now there really is nothing left to do but sit and stare. So she does, crossing and uncrossing her legs as her eyes flick between the three stockings and the clock. Surely it wouldn't be too terrible to open one tonight? Just one? Blair frowns speculatively. They probably wouldn't even notice.

The next dilemma is which to choose. There are five wrapped in brilliant crimson that can only be from Serena- they have a strict set of rules. Serena gets her four things from The List and then is allowed to pick Blair one item of her own choice. Last year it was a pair of Converse that Blair wouldn't have been seen dead in usually but turned out to be pretty comfortable- but only for around the house. No. She couldn't choose any of Serena's- her parents, her mother, especially, knows a lot about the rules and would realise immediately that one of the five crimson gifts was missing.

So perhaps Nate's? He's given two this year, one less than last year but hopefully of equal value to her. The purple scarf last year had been very useful- but the colour purple had faded with the last winter season and this year it is all about green. The shape of one of the boxes looks promising- atop The List is a watch Blair spotted in Tiffany's. Blair decides to leave Nate's until tomorrow, because at least that means she will have one wonderful gift to open that she won't have to pretend to like.

Which leaves- Chuck. Never to be outdone, there are six gold and silver wrapped presents in Chuck's stocking, each neatly labelled and tied with green ribbons. The fact there are six makes it an easy decision- she can pretend to her parents that he got her five like Serena and the one she opens tonight will be just enough to tide her over until she opens Nate's in the morning. She picks a largish box at random and starts to carefully peel away the paper- only to find another cardboard box. She allows herself a small smile before opening the second box- to reveal a third. And then a fourth. Blair is no longer amused as she pulls yet _another_ box out of the fifth- but this is different. It's aquamarine blue. It's exactly the right shape. It's Tiffany's.

The diamond encrusted watch gleams as she opens the lid of the box and she quickly closes it again in shock. Chuck? Bought her that? The item at the top of The List, the only thing she really did want this Christmas? For a moment she is spellbound while the watch winks at her, feeling a rush of love for her long time friend. Then she remembers that Nate has bought her the exact same thing and she rolls her eyes while repackaging the Tiffany's box inside all the other boxes and taking it up to her room. She stows it in the bottom of her wardrobe, hoping to forget about it.

In the morning, Nate's present is the one she chooses to open first. It's a purple cuff bracelet.


End file.
